Ascentis Level 4 Certificate in Education and Training

Qualification Overview

The Ascentis Level 4 Certificate in Education and Training is appropriate for teachers, tutors, trainers, lecturers and instructors who may be working within an FE college, Community Learning and Skills Provider or Independent Learning Provider, and for those delivering work-based training such as within voluntary, community, private and public organisations.

The Certificate gives the learner the underpinning knowledge, understanding and skills needed to confirm occupational competence. This includes the planning and delivering of schemes of work and sessions, negotiation of individual goals, different teaching and learning strategies, communication issues and exploring a range of assessment practices. Additionally, optional units are available, allowing the learner to explore areas directly relevant to their own teaching role. Teaching practice is a requirement of the qualification.

There are several features of this qualification that make it very appropriate for its target learners:

• A choice of assessment strategy for the mandatory units: either
• Ascentis-devised unitised assessment tasks designed to cover all the assessment criteria within the mandatory units, allowing completion of individual units at different times or
• The Personal and Professional Practice File (3PF), which is a distinctive and holistic approach to the assessment requirements of the qualification
• Centre-devised assessment tasks are permissible provided they are approved by Ascentis before commencement of delivery
• The qualification can be achieved by pre-service or in-service learners, part-time or full-time

This qualification replaces the Level 3 Certificate in Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector and the Level 4 Certificate in the Lifelong Learning Sector qualifications (CTLLS) introduced in 2007 and updated in 2011.

Aims

The aims of the qualification are to enable learners:

• To understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to teaching
• To understand appropriate teaching and learning approaches within the learner’s specialist area
• To plan, deliver and evaluate teaching sessions
• To understand the use of assessment methods and record keeping

The purpose of this qualification is to ‘confirm occupational competence’.

Target Group

This qualification is aimed at a range of learners, including:

• Pre-service and in-service learners who need a teaching qualification to confirm occupational competence for their role as a teacher, trainer or tutor within an FE college, Community Learning and Skills Provider or Independent Learning Provider
• Learners delivering work-based training within voluntary, community, private and public organisations

Assessment Method

To achieve the Level 4 Certificate in Education and Training evidence of achievement of all the assessment criteria must be demonstrated, together with at least 30 hours of teaching practice, of which there must be at least 3 observations totalling a minimum of 3 hours. Any single observation must be a minimum of 30 minutes.

Mandatory Units
There is a choice of assessment strategy for the mandatory units of this qualification.

Either:
Acentis-devised unitised assessment tasks
Or:
The Personal and Professional Practice File (3PF) – a holistic approach to assessment

It is recommended that centre staff should choose one of these strategies for a cohort of learners.